title: Immunosubtraction as a means of typing monoclonal and other proteins in serum and urine.
abstract: Serum and urine protein electrophoresis are used primarily to screen for the presence of monoclonal proteins found in conditions such as myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, macroglobulinemia, and so on. Having demonstrated the presence of an abnormal band, further testing is required to identify both the immunoglobulin heavy- and light-chain types (e.g., IgG κ). With conventional agarose gel or cellulose acetate electrophoresis, this secondary testing is either by immunofixation (1-3) or immunoelectrophoresis (4). In both methods, serum or urine is electrophoresed, and antibodies to each of the immunoglobulin classes is reacted with the abnormal protein. Insoluble protein-antibody complexes are formed, which can be visualized by staining with dyes such as Coomassie blue. These methods are sensitive, but can be time-consuming and labor-intensive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, West Midlands, UK.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Palfrey